1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floating seal.
2. Background Information
Conventionally, crawler-type work machines, such as hydraulic excavators or bulldozers, are equipped with rotating wheels, such as drive wheels, idler wheels, carrier rollers, and trunk rollers. Rotating wheels are provided with a seal structure to prevent leakage of lubricating oil for the bearings and to prevent the intrusion of moisture and dirt and the like.
A seal structure is normally configured by a pair of floating seals and a pair of elastic rings that are provided between a stationary housing and a rotatable housing. The floating seals that form the pair have a ring shape and are free to slide on the same axis. The floating seals are supported on the housings through the elastic rings that are in contact with the external peripheries of the floating seals (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-240065, for example).
This type of floating seal is manufactured with a centrifugal casting method or a sand mold casting method (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-221311, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-221312, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-99953).